Jabba, the 6-month-old spring pig owned by 10-year-old Kurt Penka of Dover, is one little — or rather oversized — piggy that won’t be going to market after showing at this year’s Pope County fair.

Jabba weighed in at 290 pounds on Wednesday, which was 10 pounds over the weight limit for swine. Market sale hogs had a weight minimum of 180 pounds and a maximum of 280 pounds.

By 5:40 p.m. he was down six pounds, but the remaining four pounds of excess weight disqualified him from being sold at the market hog sale on Friday night.

The six pounds came off because Kurt’s mother, Olga, spent hours walking Jabba up and down the sidewalk in the swine barn Wednesday.

“Some people told us we should have given him some Ex-Lax with water to flush him out so he would have lost the weight,” Kurt’s father, Justus Penka, said. “Olga didn’t think that was ethical. We don’t have access to scales at home, but she did find a formula to figure out his weight that showed him to be around 250 pounds just four or five days before the fair. The formula didn’t quite calculate his weight right.”

This was Kurt’s third year to show swine at the fair and he said he was disappointed, but not for the reason most people thought.

“I didn’t feel mad or sad when they told me,” Penka said. “I’m kind of down my brother and I don’t get as much fair money now. Jabba would’ve been some good ham for somebody.”

Kurt’s brother, Malcolm, 12, also showed a swine, Hazel, which he sold for $375. Their mother always has the brothers split their entire fair money down the middle, so this year Malcolm and Kurt both shared Malcolm’s money.

“Last year Kurt earned more money for his pig than Malcolm did for his steer,” Justus Penka said. “This year it is reversed, but now they only have one profit to split. I think Kurt was most upset about missing out on the money than the fact that Jabba was the only pig to show in the over weight class.”

Because Jabba was too hefty to compete in the regular class, fair officials allowed Kurt to show his pig in an overweight class, which did net the pair a blue ribbon for showmanship.

Kurt and Malcolm Penka are members of the Pope County 4-H Club and participate in the Livestock Club and the Wrangler’s Club. But a blue ribbon isn’t the same as bringing home the bacon according, to Kurt.

The Penkas will find out firsthand just how good Jabba’s ham will taste. Kurt said the pig would be going home with the family, but not as a pet.